The central point of Lukacs’s book is that history is a form of literature and not a science. Yes, professional historians must have “serious archival knowledge and practice,” but they must also be dedicated to finding out the truth about the past.

What’s it for?

“The purpose of history is understanding even more than accuracy (though not without a creditable respect for the latter).” A good history is “unavoidably anthropocentric” because it conveys “the knowledge that human beings have of other human beings.”

[In pursuit of this human element] historians should be willing to consult not only the documentary evidence but also the great literary achievements of past ages . . . .

Ald. Will Burns (4th), who attended the meeting with Hynes, added, “We want peoples’ rights to be respected. But we want more aggressive policing. We want more traffic stops, DUI and seat belt enforcement as a way to find the bad guys.”